MALAKA, EAST NUSA TENGGARA — Training activities in order to improve literacy in Malaka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), have been successfully implemented. This literacy seminar is part of Dompet Dhuafa’s Great Edunesia programme to continue to encourage the development of literacy in the region.
Titled ‘Building a Culture of Literacy’, the seminar took place over two days, on Monday and Tuesday (11-12/11/2024), at Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs) Al-Qadr, Betun City. The participants were 23 educators from four schools, namely MI Al-Qadr Betun, MTs Al-Qadr Betun, SD Inpres Betun, and SMPN Kletek.
On the first day of the training, Asep Ihsanuddin, Principal of Indonesian Teacher Great Edunesia, who also acted as a presenter, conveyed the importance of building awareness of the role of literacy in education. The participants were invited to reflectively evaluate the condition of literacy in their respective schools.
Asep hopes that after this training, the participants can realise the importance of literacy and collaborate with the community and parents in developing literacy in their school environment.
‘Hopefully, after this training, the teachers and educators here can be more aware of the importance of literacy, not only in the school context, but also in the wider community context, including parents,’ said Asep Ihsanuddin.
On the second day, the training continued with a workshop aimed at designing an integrated literacy programme. Through the design thinking method, participants were invited to map the problems, recognise the potential and design solutions to the challenges faced in their respective schools. The results of this workshop were quite varied, with various programmes developed, ranging from collaboration with parents, the use of technology, to strengthening religious literacy.
‘Every school has different challenges and potentials, and I see this as something positive. With a varied programme, participants can get many references for the development of their school in the future,’ Asep added.
Dompet Dhuafa hopes that each participant of this literacy seminar can implement the programmes that have been designed in their schools. The participation of school principals in this seminar is also expected to strengthen their commitment in implementing the training results at the school level.
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In the last session, Asep provided teachers with skills on creative learning and creative literacy. Participants were taught to integrate basic literacy skills in a more holistic learning context that suits the needs of the learners.
Ori Oktoviana, Head of SD Inpres, said she was very happy to have the opportunity to participate in this training. In fact, she herself participated directly in listening to all the material explained. According to her, she learnt many new things. Especially in terms of techniques for designing an appropriate programme, both for students, teachers, and parents. He also did not hesitate to immediately pass on the material obtained to all teachers at school, then implement it.
‘We are very happy to receive this extraordinary material. We hope that we can immediately implement it at school. Because in addition to this workshop, we also received reading books. So it can be implemented immediately,’ she said.
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As a follow-up, Dompet Dhuafa will continue to monitor the implementation of the literacy programme in the schools that participated in the training. Ahmad Yani, an alumni teacher of Dompet Dhuafa’s Sekolah Literasi Indonesia programme who is now an extension of Dompet Dhuafa in Malacca, will specifically monitor the progress of programme implementation in the field.
With this training, Dompet Dhuafa hopes to contribute to improving the quality of education and literacy in Malacca Regency, which is expected to have a positive impact on the future of the region’s next generation. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Riza Muthohar
Editor: Dhika